<p>
Was born at Fort George, Astoria, Oregon, on March 16, 1851. He was the son of Lt. Col. Theodore J. Eckerson, U. S. Army, Retired. <em>Theodore Henry Eckerson</em> was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy by President U. S. Grant, as a Cadet at Large from Washington Territory, and graduated from the Military Academy on July 17, 1874, number 39 in his class. He was then appointed Second Lieutenant, 6th U. S. Infantry, and served with that regiment on frontier duty at Fort Lincoln, Dakota, to December, 1874, and at Standing Rock Indian Agency to September 15, 1875, when he resigned from the Service and became Professor of Military Science at Riverside Military Academy, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he remained to August 15, 1876. He was reappointed Second Lieutenant, U. S. Army, on August 15, 1876, and assigned to the 19th Infantry. He joined that regiment and served at the recruiting depot, Fort Columbus, N. Y., from September 17, 1876, to March 3, 1877; and then went on frontier duty at Fort Dodge, Kansas, March 11 to July 9, 1877; at Fort Elliott. Texas, July 21, 1877, to December 8, 1878; on frontier duty Fort Elliott, Texas, to September 23, 1879; scouting and at Fort Garland, Colorado, to November 9, 1880; and at Fort Hays, Kansas, to October 30, 1881. For his service in the campaign against the Ute Indians, 1879-1880, he was later to receive a medal.</p>
<p>
He was promoted to First Lieutenant, 19th Infantry, October 11, 1882. He served at Fort Brown, Texas, to December 12, 1882; at Fort Clark, Texas, to February 2, 1887; commanding Indian Scouts, Nevill Springs, Texas, and Fort Clark, Texas, to July 8, 1887; commanding Camp at Del Rio, Texas, May 7, to September 14, 1888; at Fort Clark to May 12, 1889; at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, January to March, 1890; on General Recruiting Service, David’s Island, N.Y. Harbor, to August, 1890; at Fort Brady. Michigan, September, 1890, to January, 1893. Upon being promoted to Captain of Infantry, he was assigned to the 19th Infantry, November 30, 1892. He was next on Regimental Recruiting Service and at Fort Brady, Michigan, commanding Co. F., 19th Infantry, to January, 1895. His company saw service in the Chicago Riots, July to September, 1894.</p>
<p>
He retired from Active Service, because of disability in line of duty, January 3, 1895. As a Retired Officer, he tendered his services to the Government for the Spanish American War in 1898, and also for the Chinese War in 1900. In 1916 he was offered an opportunity to appear before a Board to be examined for return to the Active List of the Army, with accrued rank. This he declined, but he volunteered his services to the U. S. during the first World War. He was assigned to active duty September 19, 1918, with the Student’s Army Training Corps unit at State College of Washington, Pullman, Washington. He reported for duty at the College on September 21, 1918, but was relieved on September 27, 1918, on account of the sickness of his wife, and he then returned to the inactive list.</p>
<p>
He was a member of the Loyal Legion and of the Sons of the American Revolution, The Oregon Pioneers, Scottish Rite and Knight Templars.</p>
<p>
He was a very handsome man of aristocratic bearing. He was deeply religious and was noted for his extreme devotion to his wife, and for his kindliness and generosity towards everyone.</p>
<p>
He was married on September 20, 1898, to Miss Ida Shockley, who survives him.</p>
<p>
He passed away suddenly at 6:30 p. m. on January 8, 1941, at Portland, Oregon, of cardiac failure.</p>
<p>
Captain Eckerson was very devoted to the Military Academy and to his classmates, to whom he was known as “Nick.” He was the class poet in a class, 1874, that produced several literary men and poets. The words of the “Class Furlough Song of 1874,” written by him, and sung by that famous class to the tune “Wearing of the Green”, were as follows:</p>
<p>
<em>1. Come, Comrades, let us gather,</em><br />
<em>With all our hearts to sing.</em><br />
<em>Of the many joys and pleasures that the thoughts of furlough bring;</em><br />
<em>Of the many pretty damsels, that will throng around our path ;</em><br />
<em>What care we now for calculus, or old “Pop” Andrews’ wrath</em></p>
<p>
<em>Chorus :</em><br />
<em>Let us cheer, Brothers, cheer, till we can cheer no more;</em><br />
<em>Hurrah for our furlough class, the class of “Seventy-four.”</em></p>
<p>
<em>2. Our sweethearts will receive us, as they did in days of yore;</em><br />
<em>There’ll be many smiling faces, for the boys of “Seventy-four.”</em><br />
<em>And our homes, our own dear homes—we must not them forget,</em><br />
<em>There are fifty firesides waiting, each for its own cadet.</em></p>
<p>
<em>Chorus</em></p>
<p>
<em>3. There are those who waited with us this happy day to see;</em><br />
<em>But who, through evil fortune, have classmates ceased to be.</em><br />
<em>Yet, Blaisdell, Bucklen, Colby, Hancock, and Wilson, too,</em><br />
<em>Though our hearts are filled with pleasure, there’s a vacant spot for you.</em></p>
<p>
<em>Chorus</em></p>
<p>
Although very modest and retiring, he was much esteemed by people who knew him in this city, Portland, Oregon, in which he lived for a considerable part of his retired life. The hostess of his hotel said of him:</p>
<p>
<em>“He was the most courtly, dignified, and elegant gentleman I have known in my many years’ experience as a hotel hostess. He was so extremely attentive and kindly to his wife.”</em></p>
<p>
<em>—C. E. D., “84”</em></p>
<p>
</p>